


a long way from home

by FNaFlifestyle



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Enderman Hybrid Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Enderman Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Platonic Relationships, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:54:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29444394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FNaFlifestyle/pseuds/FNaFlifestyle
Summary: this'll just be a series of short stories focusing on ranboo and his adventures as an enderman hybrid living with technoblade :)i have no idea how ao3 works
Relationships: Dream SMP Ensemble & Sleepy Bois Inc.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 142





	1. how it came to be

For once in his life, Ranboo felt calm.  
The strange stillness in the air, the uncanny silence surrounding the community house he'd first felt welcomed in after entering the once kindly SMP that was now exploded... by... who was it... Dream said it was Tommy but according to the ex-l'manberg citizens he had a long history of lying- and especially if it made Tommy look bad. the outcast, enderman hybrid, Ranboo didn't really care who blew it up, he was just sad that he lacked the home he'd had hours previously and most of the pets except his little cat enderchest, who was someone he could never forget. but this felt different. different to the other homes he'd mostly forgotten, more like it wasn't really meant to be there in the first place, sides were the problem after all: l'manberg was never meant to be.

the stars beckoned to him and he gazed back longingly. a small, involuntary chirp escaped his lips, one, to the human ear, identical to those the endermen make echoed over the barren landscape. quickly darting his eyes around in a panic- hybrids such as himself were generally not treated with kindness in society- Ranboo attempted to assure himself that no one heard. seeing no one immediately, the tall child gazed back at the entrancing stars, they filled him with a peace he'd never felt before, staring into the void of darkness felt like second nature during night time, leaving him to wander alone, thinking. 

["what are you talking about?"  
"I'm sorry dude, I just can't be friends with some one like you!"   
"what about me?"  
"you're- you're-"  
"just say it."   
"you're a FREAK!"]

so many ruined friendships from something he couldn't control, his enderman-ness.

Philza trod carefully along the damp wooden path, sword unsheathed and ready to attack the mob he was sneaking up on. the deadly enchantments glistened over the sharpened blade in shades of purple and an indistinguishable-bluish colour. Phil had heard an enderman, one of the most deadly and valuable mobs in this world; especially their pearls that allow teleportation. he could see the particles now, purple and flickering... did they normally flicker? another long warble emitted from around the post he stood by and the avian bird-hybrid raised the death-bringing netherite blade over his head, ready to strike the stupid, terrible creature. stepping around the corner, he prepared himself to stare into its eyes.

completely entranced by the sky, and the soft song it seemed to hum directly into his soul, twisting his vision from empty sky into threads of that colour for some reason no one else could see (it was clearly a lilac-blue colour) , deep purple and grainy white. Ranboo unintentionally released another droning vrip. he was completely and blissfully unaware of his surroundings... until his fingers began to feel numb. then his feet. then his vision began to shake and swirl, like entering a nether portal. when his pearl, the thing that made him an enderman, began to shake and beat furiously Ranboo realised something was up. he barely had time to register that a pair of blue eyes were glaring into his before purple particles clouded his vision and the feeling of his chest being compressed and the sound of his screeching dimly in reality. it felt like his chest was going to explode with the energy being used for this... this teleport? is that what this was?

Phil gawked at the spot where his almost-victim used to be standing. he wasn't used to endermen acing like that, usually they'd just screech an run at him, not teleport immediately and glitch in and out of existence on the lawn nearby- now that he looked at it, did endermen usually have any white on them? they definitely didn't wear clothes, or a crown. but that meant... he had stared at and scared a person, a hybrid. and Philza didn't care they were a hybrid, after all he was one as well- he just cared that he must have caused them so much discomfort with that eye contact to get them to revert to their instinctual power. instant regret didn't even begin to explain the guilt he was feeling.

Ranboo was suddenly aware of everything. the damp grass that itched his palms, his own breathing, how tightly he was gripping onto the ground, the coolness of someone's shadow over his curled up body... who was it that had stared at him? he was angry at them, but still had that uncomfortable, twisting feeling in his chest from using his pearl for anything other than enderspeak and his own unique chirps. he'd never teleported before and wondered how his kind ever did it so easily! his brain was a mess of panic, anger and discomfort.   
it was crazy how his night had manged to transition from panic, to even more panic.

"hey mate... sorry about that."   
"who- Phil?" Ranboo spoke, shakily.  
"yeah, sorry again kid, I didn't mean to scare you like that- its Ranboo isn't it?"  
"yes."   
it was just then that Ranboo noticed the unsheathed sword and prepared satchel full of...  
"enderpearls? how do you have..."  
"ah."  
"how do you have them? Phil?"  
"f-from trading with piglins and villagers... yeah"   
instinctively Ranboo moved his hand to his chest, concealing his own pearl; which was still aching from overuse and shivered at the touch of Phil, who raised the teens chin to be at eye level with his. eye contact... eugh.   
"oh, sorry mate i didn't realise you didn't like eye contact."  
"wait- i said that out loud? shoot."  
"sort of, you just kind of mumbled it,"   
Ranboo was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable around the man who held a bag of his kin's hearts in his hand, but Philza wouldn't hurt him, he was a hybrid as well! Not a hostile mob hybrid, but that was not much of a difference surely to the disgusted treatment he'd received elsewhere... surely other hybrids had been outcasted like him.

Phil could see it on his face, Ranboo was very expressive, he was scared, and worse than that, scared of him.   
"do you remember where mine and techno's house is?"  
frantic flicking through a use-worn notebook.  
"no."  
"I'm sorry about your house... and your pets... and your stuff."  
"wh- oh yeah."  
"if you need a home, you're always welcome there,"  
"Oh, well, thanks." Ranboo smiled weakly.  
Phil pressed a map into his long, ender hands and took to the skies.

now that he was gone, Ranboo began to wonder about   
"what the hell was all that…"  
the whole evening was a mess now. even thinking about the star-song made him dizzy and zoned-out. eye contact was worse than usual, probably from stress. and the teleporting... his pearl wasn't fully formed, him being a hybrid and all, so teleporting wasn't exactly in his nature. distantly, he recalled techno having an enderman in a boat in the log cabin he lived in, a full enderman, one who spoke like an elder and probably remembered his original home, the one he couldn't remember.

staring at the map, he was surprised and wondered where it took him, so of course, he followed it. through the nether, over an ocean (using a boat of course) and through snow.  
it hurt his bare skin obviously, but the little burns were nothing compared the the gut wrenching pain of teleporting.

techno was simply lounging around, ignoring Edward's strange and insistent chirps that were identical to all other enderman blights.   
"another enderman approaches!"  
"shut up Edward I'm trying to focus"  
"how dare you speak to me like that! i am simply trying to alert you of another living pearls presence!"  
"Edward i don't speak ender, shut up."  
"fine."  
"god all you stupid enderman sound the same."  
"HOW DARE YOU- he is near, but his pearl feels broken..."  
"EDWARD"  
the enderman turned around and crossed it's long arms.

an hour or two later, the freezing hybrid leant against the sturdy, and short, doors. Edward had been agitated, but silently, and techno had gone to sleep a few minutes ago, so Edward had free reign of the downstairs. silently, he shuffled over to the door and pulled it open. the enderboi collapsed onto the floor, and laid there for a while. the elder enderman noticed the painful looking burns on his hands and face from the snow which further made him glad he was too tall to get out of the door, and too tired to teleport very far anymore. but this young, half enderman was strange, and he needed company who could understand him. so he brought the child's face to his level and brushed the snowflakes off of him, they were like little tiny bullets to their kind, penetrating his split coloured skin. he was definitely of the ender, but his pearl was not whole.

dawn was breaking, perfect time for the blood g-d to wake. an irritating, vrweping sound was emitting from downstairs.  
"heh? Ranboo?"   
"⍜⊑, ⊑⟟ ⏁⟒☊⊑⋏⍜!"  
"the fu-"  
"huh?"  
"you were just speaking an entirely different language?!"  
"oh, um sorry about that."  
"no need to apologise I guess,"  
"I hope you don't mind I'm here, Phil said it was ok,"  
"no, no that's fine, i was just wondering who you were speaking to!"  
"Oh, just Edward."  
"you can understand Edward?"  
"..yea? can't you?"  
"no, he speaks in enderman i guess,"  
"that would make sense, i am part enderman after all,"  
"you are?"  
"well yeah,"

"your pearl, child," Edward murmured   
"what about it?" Ranboo replied  
"What can it do?"  
"it- it can... so all the normal things i guess, like enderspeak and teleporting-"  
"you have teleported? with a not whole pearl?"  
"yes"  
"that is very rare for a non-whole like you, i was doubting you'd even feel the void-song"  
"the what?"  
"you DON'T know what the void-song is!"  
"i might... refresh my memory,"  
"it is natural for our kind, like breathing. we are nocturnal so staring up at the sky is part of out nature. when we find the void, even the sky void, it is just pure happiness and colour."  
"I think I experienced that earlier..." Ranboo muttered shakily. that feeling of bliss, of colour, of enderman-ness he'd never felt before, was natural, was normal.   
"when that happened i chirped, like how techno must hear this now,"  
"that's normal also, child." Edward responded, reading the look on Ranboo's face, "you were simply responding to the void song"  
"I'm worried because I don't know what i said- like what if it was something bad?"  
"repeat it."  
strangely, Ranboo repeated it naturally, like it was something he could never forget.  
"silly child," Edward sighed "that is your own enderspeak. it means nothing."  
all the puzzle pieces clicked. he was ender, and ender was him. Edward helped him see that. for the first time he had a home that felt like home, and he could tell that it would finally be the place where he could be himself.


	2. 'just ender stuff'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who knew that ender secrets were so... secret!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i found the works that inspired me! its 'warbled greetings' and 'of endermen and snow' ! these are awesome works so go check them out and support the authors :D their ideas fit all my headcannons so I'm kinda 'building off' of those tropes.

As the wind whipped round and the clouds overcast the sky, Ranboo sat shivering. He may have looked like he was staring at his palms, the clean, porcelain-looking hand laid over the unnaturally long, smooth black endermen fingers- which were fidgeting and twitching from the extensive lack of use- but he was not. His usually kind, strange coloured eyes were distant and unseeing. no one noticed for a while, maybe an hour or so, but the ever hastening breeze tore at the tiny 'windows' in his shack, some things in his house fell over, crops growing in the makeshift farm bent and tore out the frosted earth and little by little, delicate flakes of snow began to fall. 

_what..._  
 _where am i..._  
 _and why do i feel so- itchy._  
the snow had began to fall heavier and heavier, sinking through the windows and collecting around Ranboo's feet. the half ender teen didn't notice, too far into the wormhole that was his thoughts and the _voice_ that responded to them. but what he did notice was a burning-itching sensation around his ankles, oh course, that was the enderman pain of w a t e r.  
"wait- what? oh, shoot-" he began, wincing from the soon-to-be unbearable pain; already regretting letting his body go to sleep, even for an hour, since now he was trapped in a wall of literal agony that separated him from warmth safety and healing potions. all he could do now was shout until his human vocal chords gave way into a full blown enderman shriek.

funnily enough, it wasn't Edward with his enhanced hearing who discovered Ranboo, it was Phil. bored by the lack of space and fresh air, Phil had resorted to talking to their lanky roommate (no not ranboo, Edward), despite the fact that he had only learned a few words back in the years prior to the SMP and not even helpful ones that would be good as sa greeting, 

Phil wasn't sure Edward would appreciate him saying 'sword' or 'stab' in ender-  
"alright, that it." he sighed. it was too warm and stuffy, too cramped. a door needed to be opened, or a window, or _something!_  
that was when, through the melancholy shrieking of the storm, something else was shrieking.

"fuck-"

a few minutes later, and most of that was digging through snow, Phil came across a peculiar sight. the teen he had taken into his house was screaming, jaw unhinged almost; his eyes squinting and crying and thin, feather-tipped tail flicking restlessly. what was oddest of all, was that streaming down his face were red patches, what looked like burns and irritated skin. one hand, presumably the enderman one, clawed and scratched at the... tear tracks? while the other one tried to pull it away. Phil supposed his instincts were as split as his skin colour. Ranboo's knees were shaking, looking like he was about to collapse, which in hindsight, he probably was. finally breaking out of his shock after a few minutes, Phil furled his wings and ran into the shack (which, in his opinion, was not satisfactory for this exact reason) scooping the weirdly light boy into hid arms and dashed back out again. 

Ranboo was flicking in and out of consciousness, throat painful and face feeling like it was on fire from the unwanted tears; not registering what would have been shame in any   
normal circumstances, not even noticing how he burrowed his face into the signature cloak Phil donned. 

hours later...

 _"Phil? what..."_  
"Ranboo? are you awake?"  
 _"yeah, i guess so."_ Ranboo responded, not liking the way his head pounded and ankle throbbed.  
"what did you say mate?"  
 _"huh? i just said that yeah, im awake,"_  
"are you- speaking ender?" both the people in that little room were getting more and more confused.  
Ranboo looked over at Edward and asked if he was using enderspeak to which the elder simply nodded.  
 _oh..um ok I'll try again,"_  
he coughed.  
still speaking ender.  
"well fuck," Phil stated, after several attempts from the enderboi to switch back to common tongue, failed attempts. "do you think all that screaming you did damaged your vocal chords?"   
Ranboo shrugged while Edward suddenly grasped his face.  
Phil yelled and immediately reached for his sword, but Ranboo was in no danger  
he simply stared into his eyes, making Ranboo squirm instinctively, Edward's eyes traced over the burns on his face and beckoned Phil over. Not wanting to disrespect the elder, as Ranboo called Edward, he stepped over and noticed the burns properly, shocked and guilty he hadn't seen them before.   
"why have you got those?" Phil questioned.  
Ranboo, knowing Phil couldn't understand him, pointed at the glass on the coffee table.  
"oh! water! i thought that wouldn't hurt you y'know, since you, you're not completely an enderman,"  
Ranboo shook his head sadly.  
"one sec-"  
a minute or so later, Phil returned with a few health potions and gestured for him to drink them. slowly, the teen sipped the potion.  
the tickling sensation of his burns disappearing make Ranboo want to sneeze, and then cough, because somehow the miracle drink made his throat feel much better.  
"I really screeched that much huh..." Ranboo chuckled.  
Phil jolted into focus,

in the continuing minutes, Ranboo tested his voice. once he was satisfied, he reached for the sweet arms of sleep, just chirping goodnighgt to Edward, who responded in his own unique little warble, patting the half ender on his head. But... as he finally closed his eyes in the safety of the cabin, Phil said something that caught his interest.  
"you know, i always wondered why you guys do that vr~p thing, wouldn't you just be repeating something to eachother?"  
wrong thing to say Phil guessed. like when you stare at an enderman from behind, Ranboo turned his head.  
"the _fuck_ did you just say?"  
"i.. um... just asked what that chirp thing meant."  
"do you mean our calls?"   
"i mean maybe? that thing you two just did,"  
"those don't mean anything, and they don't sound the same?!"  
Now Phil was really intrigued, and asked about ender goings-on, like how they teleport or what their noises mean. he longed for knowledge, a trait he's passed on to techno.  
over the next few hours, Ranboo informed the bird hybrid of how endermen worked, talking about their pearls and language.

that night, Phil had a lot more on his conscience then before know that he knew that their pearls were basically their hearts and how painful water was. having one of them talk about how _alive_ they were would make endermen farms a lot more inhumane; that bag of pearls downstairs would never look the same way again.

And Ranboo slept easy, happy that he could help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed! i write this all ion one sitting so pls point out any mistakes lmao <3 and after writing a couple stories ive realised i like to write narrative a lot more then detail- none of these will straight away have continuity unless you guys really like a particular story B)


	3. da boys in the city

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo and Techno need to grab some stuff from the nearby town and... it doesn't go to plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wassup im back B) inspiration ran out on me for this one lmao and this was published at 12:10 am

When Philza Minecraft asked Techno to go to their nearby city and pick up some eggs and milk, he didn't think much of it- after all, he wasn't _particularly welcome_ in L'manberg... or the rest of the SMP with access to chickens or cows for that matter. So, he obviously agreed to run into town, grabbing his cloak off of the coat hanger and listening for the sweeping sounds of Phil's wings so as to not get slapped in the face with greyish-white feathers. 

"Oh and maybe bring Ranboo along with you! he hasn't left this tundra since he arrived," Phil called from round the other side of the doorframe.  
"sure, sure," Techno muttered.

But when Techno shouted for Ranboo to get in the car, he was surprised to see the teen freeze up.  
"Ranboo? you good?" Techno asked  
"o-oh, um yeah, I'm good... heh," Ranboo shakily grinned, "why... why do we have to go out to the city for that stuff and not just get some nearby?"  
"heh? what? you know Dream killed them all while Tommy was in exile dude, come on, lets just go."  
"but-"  
"what is it dude? seriously, just tell me," Techno could tell something was off, maybe it was because Ranboo was so insistent that they didn't really need to go, or maybe it was how his tail was quite literally between his legs, or maybe it was the few nervous chirps he was obviously trying to supress.  
"well... um... y'see, hostile mob hybrids aren't the most respected. or tolerated..."  
"but- you're _not_ a hostile mob hybrid! you're a neutral mob hybrid! like polar bears and dolphins for gods sake!" Techno growled, enraged.  
"it doesn't matter that much, I mean, I've never really noticed it, I swear," Ranboo rushed to say before Techno got too mad.  
The blade glared at his own axe, imagining the people who wronged his new companion with it up to their necks-  
_"shut up voices..."_

The car hummed repetitively, quite calmly. the churning feeling in Ranboo's stomach was settling, finally, after about an hour of silence. the landscape slowly fading from a bleak, bland tundra to a bright and glowing city- there were so many lights! Techno was surprised to see the ender hybrid (who was so used to staring at the stars) entranced by the bright flat buildings window lights. Ranboo was thinking, thinking about if he needed some sort of disguise, or if people were even still biased against his kind, or even-  
"hey techno- what are you gonna do in the stores? piglins are actually hostile..."  
the shocked teen trailed off.  
the piglin hybrid turned, only one hand on the leathery steering wheel, the other pulling his glasses down to stare at Ranboo over the glass in the lenses; as he turned, his intensely pig-like features retracted. his snout became more like normal nose (only sporting elongated nostrils) and his face smoothed over, eyes losing his glow, becoming more like hazel then pink. Ranboo gawked at the transformation.  
"wha- how- the hell? that's... interesting..." from first sight, his brain and everything he knew about hybrids were thrown into turmoil. could- could he change his appearance? could he be normal?  
"go on, try to transform- yeah I know! the voices can read you like a book!" techno responded to the startled teen.  
Ranboo screwed his eyes shut, and willed for his duel-toned skin vanish, make his eyes stop glowing, make it all disappear. make his insecurities disappear.  
_puffff_  
"did... did it work?" Ranboo opened his eyes to a flurry of purple particles in front of his eyes. that was what the sound was. he sighed. 

another 20 minutes passed. 

That's when the best idea for Ranboo he thought he'd ever had struck him (pushing away the voices that told him to let Ranboo be found out and see how either side would react) so, he hopped out the car at the nearest corner shop, instructing Ranboo to stay still and stay in the car.  
5 minutes later, Techno ran back into the car waving a little paper bag at Ranboo.

after feeling through the uncomfortably scratchy thick paper of the tiny packet, he unwrapped...  
"a mask and gloves?"  
"yeah, so you can hide your hybrid-ness like you wanted to,"  
"Well.. um, thanks Techno, that's actually really nice." a warm purple flush filled his face, embarrassment flooding through him that techno had wasted money on him because he was nervous to put himself back into a functioning society because... shoot. he'd almost forgotten. 

finally, they reached the store they'd meant to get to.  
"listen, Ranboo, this is kinda a sketchy neighbourhood so you're gonna have to come in. sorry dude."  
equipping the mask and gloves, the enderman hybrid pushed his hair over his eyes and hunched over so as too look less intimidating and more human.  
now, in the surprisingly cold supermarket they had only came across one hybrid. he was a rabbit hybrid as well, a tall dark ear protruding from the left side of his head and the corresponding side of his head was covered in purple-ish black skin- similar to Ranboo's enderman half when he blushed. all they caught of his voice was a deep rumble. 

once they had the eggs and milk, they reached the till. oh boy, oh boy, what a mistake they both made there. Techno asked Ranboo to go pay for it while he grabbed a bag from the car to carry this all in. the teen was sure, he was so sure that nothing bad would go wrong, i mean, why would he be noticed to be an enderman hybrid when he had gloves, a mask and his eyes were covered.  
"hello sir, please place your items just _here._ " they seemed friendly enough, they're name tag referred to them as 'lily'.  
"sorry this is taking so long," they said, smiling as they scanned each box of eggs (Phil had asked for them to get a lot, they didn't want to have to go back into town for a while) but... as they did so they also stared Ranboo directly into his eyes. ffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-  
nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope  
this could not be happening at the moment. not right now. 

it was getting hot, far too hot to be normal in this literal fridge of a shop- and he absent-mindedly began to claw at his gloves off...  
"... _o_ did you die your hair like that? its real co..."  
he couldn't focus on what lily was saying. he needed to get his gloves and mask off NOW. ignoring his human instincts to keep the mask on, he grasped at the strings and without realising it, his claws had forced themselves out of his fingernails and slit the elastic of the ear piece. Ranboo was breathing heavily which was not good, since his voice was currently tinged with a strong native ender accent and ever so often his vocal chords would give way to a little _vrh-wip._ the teen felt like he was going to choke on the multiple shrieks and and ender noises that he was suppressing. but one slipped out. and across the store, a man, who couldn't have been older than 25, yelled  
"What the fuck are you? you freak!"  
oh. _o h_ this was what he was afraid of.  
his tail twitched and his ears flickered at the whispers all around him. another enderman noise slipped out. a woman sheltered her kids from as she referred him as 'it'. 'it isn't human' she muttered. 'it's not safe.'  
the distressed teen didn't even feel the sob until the water burned his skin and he squealed.  
it left burn marks down his face.  
"oh shit- you're an enderman hybrid aren't you! I did all this shit, I made eye contact, dude I am so sorry," lily said, their eyes staying firmly away from his.  
"lily?! what the hells going on?" questioned their unforgiving looking boss, who made a point to attempt to keep eye contact with Ranboo.  
"sir! he's an enderman hybrid, please do not do that!-" they begged.  
"he's causing a disruption to the customers!"  
the boss stepped away from the till and pushed his hand against Ranboo's back, shoving him out of the shop.  
" _sir, i am so sorry its-_ "  
"shut up with your strange language." he demanded.

kneeling on the grass outside the shop, tears racked through his chest. he wanted to scratch off the burn blisters and ease the pain but putting any pressure on it hurt like hell- and it was then that Techno showed up.  
"kid? kid what happened."  
one look at the sobbing hybrid and the shopkeeper walking back inside, let him pit the pieces together by himself.  
"oh."  
Ranboo didn't even notice the little dagger up the anarchist's sleeve until he was already inside the supermarket.

the grass felt cool and soft to the touch, comforting. He scooped some up. placed it back. and finally breathed.  
a little boy was watching from a few blocks away. he slowly wandered over, still carrying his gift in his arms, although it was still alwmost as big as him (despite his abnormal height for his age). he was only 6.  
the first Ranboo noticed of the kid was the grass block he plopped down at his feet. he screwed up his eyes, not wanting more eye contact again.

" _hello mr_ " said the kid  
" _hi_ " Ranboo smiled  
" _i like your hair,_ "  
" _thanks,_ "  
" _can i touch your hair?_ " " _sure..?_  
the hands in his hair felt normal, they felt similar to his own, cold and smooth. he opened his eyes. the child looked like a little version of him. another enderman hybrid... the first he'd ever seen.  
" _oh!_ " ranboo yelped. the kid nodded.  
" _I'm endarre_ "  
it was a funny name, but who was Ranboo to judge with a name like 'ranboo' anyway. they chirped at each other for a second, then endarre ran off. 

he was alone again, but this time, he felt whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the kudos! pls give me prompts I'm literally BS-ing my was through this... yall are poggers 
> 
> (sorry if there are a lot of british-isms in this ive been told a lot of these words are only british so thats funny B))
> 
> ps i am tired asf rn someone yell at me to go to sleep and stop writing


	4. not such ghost stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ranboo and the boys exchange ghost stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one took so long lmao it got deleted at 95% finished a couple days ago so i had to restart

there was no better time, in Ranboo's opinion, than sunset. the sky was finally turning a majestic purple that consumed the vibrant scarlet of the earlier evening and made the treeline stand out like figureheads. Wind whistled in the branches high above them (or not so high for the enderman hybrid) and they swayed rhythmically. There was no better feeling than sitting in that sunset and having a laugh with friends, even if it increased the risk of everyone who didn't already know finding out about his enderman-ness, he even wrote it in his book so he would remember to keep it to himself, making a list of who knew and who didn't:  
 _knows:  
~Techno  
~Phil  
~ghostbur  
~Dream :)  
~Tubbo  
~jack_

_Don't know:  
~Tommy  
~Fundy  
~Niki  
~Bad  
~Skeppy  
~ant  
~Sam  
everyone else. _

He was very glad that Phil had gifted him an enderbook which, in similarity to an enderchest, could only be used and read by the author.

smoke filled the crisp air around the campfire. sitting around on the gnarled old logs were the familiar faces of Tommy, Techno, Sam and of course of Ranboo, whose faces were lit up by the warm and glowing flames lingering in the fire pit in front of them. Tommy had been staring at the flickering flames ever since the conversation died, presumably longing for Sam (the designated responsible adult for the evening) to pull more smores out of his bag- he had scoffed them all as soon as Sam presented them ten minutes ago. his dusty-grey wings were twitching and ruffling behind his back, where they were flexed away from the scorching embers that floated away from the firepit. Tommy was a bird hybrid, like philza.   
"I'm fucking bored." Tommy groaned, flopping back onto the floor.  
"what do you expect us to do about it? just do cliché campfire things? like tell ghost stories and stuff?" techno responded, deadpan staring at his younger friend.  
"sure i guess, big man. Like stories about ghosts and witches and shit? -wait Sam? you good mate?"   
Sam was zoned out, eyes wide and shoulders hunched defensively.  
"Sam? are you alright?" Ranboo added,  
"yeah.. I'm just thinking about something from a while ago," his voice was shaky and his statement was vague.  
"care to tell us?" tommy gawked  
"wait... you're interested?"   
they nod  
"well.... uh... You know I'm a creeper hybrid (obviously) but I'm not a normal hybrid, y'see I'm only a hybrid because a witch cursed me." he paused and scanned the group. no reactions. "I don't really want to talk about it very much so I'll be quick. When I was young, only 8 or so, I thought I was properly geared up to to go adventure out in the swamp nearby my home town," (Ranboo shuddered at the thought of that damp uncomfortable biome) "to find and kill the witch that was rumoured to live there, but our town is; well was, well lit up so mobs were nothing but ghost stories and something we didn't encounter. Of course you had your average stories about said witch which I went out to 'kill' but really just to say I killed and be cool. After a while i found the hut and tried to sneak up and steal a potion but the floor was mossy and slippery, so I slipped over and alerted the witch. She threw the nearest potion on me. its one which i can't... can't... can... can't bring myself to think about or brew now since it includes ingredients I'm not happy using or gathering now- like creeper heads." he shuddered. "but i ran back home crying, there was glass in my skin, shattered over my face but the blood was running a sickly yellow colour down my face and it stung, it stung so bad, in an unnatural way like it was burning my face and changing my own biology; which, in hindsight, it was."  
"dude... calm down, we don't need the details." Tommy whispered quietly, and weirdly emotionally.  
"oh, right. I forgot I was saying that out loud. Anyway, I got home and tried to ask people for help but they were scared to go near me, so I sat alone. I stole bandages from the shop to 'fix' my face, then arms, and everywhere it seemed to spread. I got caught wandering at night and chased away- that was the first time the term 'creeper' was brought up; and I didn't know what that was. but I spent the rest of my childhood avoiding villages and learning how to survive alone; all the while the curse was spreading through me and making me a hybrid. I was alone until dream found me and gave me a place to stay in this SMP, so I threw myself into my studies and underground base with a construction mask protecting me from the fumes of redstone. when I left my base for the first time in months without my mask it was weird, somehow the air hurt and I discovered that what I used to breath, _live_ on, was toxic to hostile mobs in the daytime. it figured I guess. I took that opportunity to look at my own reflection and creeper scales trailing over the left side of my face and mutilating my eyes. I can't smile anymore.   
it's fine though, I'll survive! I'm used to it." Sam finished, trying hard to make sure no one felt uncomfortable.   
what if they ask me to tell my own story? Ranboo thought. what if they find out that-  
"big man..." tommy cut off his thoughts, "that's awesome! you're a fuckin' creeper!"  
"thanks tommy," Sam smiled.  
silence settled around the clearing again, and the enderman teen avoiding looking up to the stars, his hands clenched into fists, shaking from repressing everything his pearl longed to do. he couldn't let it out. he couldn't talk at the moment. luckily, techno noticed the look and trembling movements Ranboo.

"hey tommy! why don't you show off some tricks? last time I saw you you were trying to learn how to do a backflip in the air!" Techno grinned, leaning in between tommy point of view and Ranboo. his intention, in this act, was to make Tommy start showing off and make everyone laugh however it had the opposite effect. Tommy sighed.  
"i can't. dream..." Tommy began before Techno barged in-   
"What. the. hell. did dream do?"  
"he just didn't want me to escape during exile, its fine, he's not that bad."  
"I'm asking again. what did he do?"  
"he....,.,." Tommy mumbled something no one could hear, but he did flex his wings out over techno's lap so he could see them. Techno analysed each feather and row, taking care not to move anything and the others watched on confused; watching Techno's expression darken as he reached the most vital feathers: his flight feathers.   
"I'm sorry," techno whispered.  
"what happened?" Sam rushed over to see. "oh." his flight feathers were sliced jaggedly and definitely cut to be uncomfortable on purpose. he could no longer fly.  
"You literally went through all that in Pogtopia for nothing."  
"what happened in Pogtopia?!"  
"ok... so basically in Pogtopia I felt a hell of a lot of pain in my back but because we hadn't seen Phil in years, the fuckin bitch, and I wasn't showing any bird traits last time we saw him so he never told me about the fact that that was because I was growing wings! he also never told me that it fuckin hurts like a bitch. but I woke up after being on INTENSE PAIN all night and had wings!" Tommy grinned. he flexed his wings proudly then asked Techno if maybe he had any good stories,  
"me? Noooo. I'm just an a piglin hybrid with anarchist with hundreds of thousands of voices in his head so i definitely have no stories!" Techno responded sarcastically.

somehow it was this. THIS. that made Ranboo laugh. maybe it was the contrast of Ranboo's internal turmoil and Techno's dry humour but this was not the time. The mention of dream hurting someone was enough to set off his fight or flight responses- which culminated itself as a buzz of static and particles in his head; so when he laughed it sounded more like a combination of enderman screeching and quiet laughing.  
"HUH?! WHERE IS THE ENDERMAN!" Sam yelled, drawing his sword and spinning round and round.  
"whatthefuck- that sounded like it came from ever there," tommy outstretched a lanky arm towards Ranboo's direction, but not at him because _how on earth could HE make that noise!_ but he did make that noise and he was going to have to face the consequences of coming clean.  
" _uh that wa-_ sorry, what i was trying to say was: that was me... sorry." all eyes were on him. "please... Don't."  
"what? how? why?" Sam asked. Ranboo removed his mask and pushed his hair away from his eyes, revealing his dual toned skin and unnatural eyes to the group- he did it fast so that he had no time to overthink.  
"woahhhh, are you an enderman hybrid big man?" Tommy questioned.   
"well... yeah," Ranboo smiled, self conscious of his enderman-type mouth and small fangs. purple freckles dotted across his face, little scars streaked down his cheeks from tear tracks that always ended up hurting again after a while, his bright and slightly luminescent eyes darted across the circle.  
"oh cool, you got any stories?" Tommy continued casually. Ranboo was taken aback by his lack of a reaction but really, what did he expect! He was literally in a group of a Piglin, creeper and bird hybrid.  
"well uh... yeah! so when I was younger I just hopped from server to server, without a care in the world because my enderman side hadn't started to show at all, i was purely that porcelain white my other half is so I was fine in all places, even in water which I'll be completely honest, I miss. but when I was about 10 I stated showing my enderman tendencies both physically and with my abilities. people started to notice. some would care, some wouldn't. but I was staying in Hypixel so most people were not the nicest. people started trying to actually hurt me during skywars, chucking their water buckets at me and stuff- it was not a good time at all. but I didn't let that stop me and began to climb the ranks of pvp games until I got Dream's attention where he invited me here. it was a bit weird getting used to my new drawbacks and abilities but I'm pretty used to it now. life's good enough."  
"poggers,- anyway...." Tommy began to delve into conversation with Sam, hypixel bringing up a load of new stories to tell.

Ranboo and Techno conversed as well. they spoke about how the force fields that stopped actual harm in hypixel should keep water out, and Techno said he'd ask Simon Hypixel to fix it. the evening darkened and the fire warmed their drowsy hearts. the void of a sky cradled the group of damaged people until eventually, it let them go their separate ways- walking until the horizon line swallowed them whole. and in that darkness Ranboo sat and considered all that had happened and been said, wondering if maybe he deserved a little spark of happiness after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again i am publishing this at midnight XD! thanks for all the kudos holy crap!!!! ily all so much for all the support <3  
> please request any oneshots you'd like to be written :D

**Author's Note:**

> please leave ideas anything you'd like to see here! this is inspired by another series which I will 100% credit the author of when i find it :)) ranboo is my comfort streamer and character so there will definitely be more fluff and ender-stuff


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